by Joseph Ngwawi – SANF 07 No 23
Tourism in southern Africa is set to receive another boost from the 2010 Soccer World Cup if international football administrators approve a plan by South Africa to allow visiting teams to use neighbouring countries as their bases.
South Africa has asked the world football governing body, Fifa, to consider allowing teams in the 2010 World Cup finals to stay at bases in neighbouring countries and travel to South Africa on the day before their matches.
The proposal will see a change in the rules governing the travel and accommodation arrangements for visiting teams.
Under existing rules, the 31 visiting teams can set up training camps outside the host country before the finals. But they have to move to South Africa at least seven days before their opening match and remain there during the tournament.
If the proposal is approved, the visiting teams will have their bases outside South Africa and only travel to the host country a day before each match. They will move to their bases after their matches.
The bases must be within a 90-minute plane journey to the match venues. This is expected to benefit countries such as Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.
Danny Jordaan, chief executive of the 2010 World Cup organising committee, said the move is meant to spread the benefits to be derived from the first World Cup to be hosted in Africa.
“This is Africa’s World Cup and we are making a case to Fifa for a change in the rules,” Jordaan said.
South Africa’s hosting of the world soccer showpiece has created a lot of interest in southern Africa, with neighbouring countries anticipating to benefit from the influx of tourists normally associated with such tournaments.
Some 350,000 to 450,000 tourists are expected to descend on southern Africa for the finals.
Southern Africa has developed a joint strategy to improve infrastructure ahead of the World Cup.
The strategy, known as the Trans-Frontier Conservation Areas 2010 Soccer World Cup Strategy, will be used to develop and market various trans-frontier parks and trans-frontier conservation areas in southern Africa as premier tourist destinations for the region.
The region intends to use the soccer tournament to hasten the pace of infrastructure and tourism-based development in identified national parks and conservation areas.
South Africa is speeding up construction of stadiums to be ready in time for the 2010 games.
Four new stadiums will be built – Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, King’s Park Stadium in Durban and Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit – while six others will be upgraded in time for 2010.
The six are the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein, Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, and Soccer City and Ellis Park, both in Johannesburg.
Other countries have also identified cities to host the visiting teams. Zimbabwe’s Masvingo is one such city.
